


ache

by sweetheartbitterheart



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Miscarriage, Near Death, Protective Number Five | The Boy, Pseudo-Incest, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28766754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetheartbitterheart/pseuds/sweetheartbitterheart
Summary: She was supposed to get better. She was supposed to sit across from him in the morning and tell him between sips of tea that next time she would surely succeed. Instead she lied still and pale, most likely dying.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 12
Kudos: 51





	ache

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CarpeDiemForLife](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarpeDiemForLife/gifts), [ellaphunt19](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellaphunt19/gifts), [fiveyaaas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveyaaas/gifts), [Chevalier_Barthelemy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chevalier_Barthelemy/gifts), [JjdoggieS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JjdoggieS/gifts), [sunchime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunchime/gifts), [maddiemiran](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddiemiran/gifts), [eldritching](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eldritching/gifts), [xxbunnykissesxx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxbunnykissesxx/gifts), [msouma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/msouma/gifts), [Blackat14](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackat14/gifts).



> gifted to some sweet and supportive people!! 
> 
> this idea has been rambling around my head for a long time now. i maybe listened to Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush one too many times which made me want some Cathy and Heathcliff vibes for Fiveya
> 
> read all the tags beforehand! this is an angsty story involving miscarriage/child death

Five felt something ugly rise inside him as the doctor shook his head.

"You said that the last time," he snarled at the old man. The doctor only shook his head again. "Get out!" he managed between clenched teeth.

The man scurried out of the room like a mouse. Five dismissed Vanya's maid with a sharp nod.

He walked to his sister's bed and looked down at her pasty face. A sheen of sweat covered her forehead and her breathing was too shallow by half. Five sat on the edge of the bed, taking her hand in his. He willed her to open her eyes and look at him.

His anger grew tenfold when she continued to ignore his silent plea. She was supposed to get better. She was supposed to sit across from him in the morning and tell him between sips of tea that next time she would surely succeed. Instead she lied still and pale, most likely dying.

"Damn you," he hissed, on the verge of shaking her awake now. "Come back to me."

Vanya had never carried a healthy child to term. Nearly every single one of them she'd either bled out or they'd failed to thrive outside of the womb and taking something of her when they went. Every single time she would fall into a spell of grief after. Her husband would blame and berate her until the doctor deemed it safe enough for him to claim his husbandly rights again repeating the cycle over and over.

Five had fought their father tooth and nail to stop Vanya from marrying this monster but it only made him more determined to see her wed. Peabody was a pathetic excuse of a man. He was obsessed with getting an heir, especially one with a Hargreeves pedigree. Vanya was a means to an end with him. Not a living, breathing person with a brilliant mind and a kind heart.

It was an unspoken agreement that Five was there every time Vanya went into labor. He had listened to every cry and scream as she fought to bring new life into this world. He had cradled her in his arms after every loss. The longest a child of hers had ever lived was for an hour. Five had held her while she held the tiny baby through its last breaths. That one had nearly broken her and he feared she would take her own life after.

He loathed watching her suffer. Endlessly, he tried to convince her to stop, but it was no use. She was more terrified of her husband than she was of death.

Five did not share that same sentiment.

He had threatened Peabody too many times now to count. He would've killed the man years ago if not for Vanya's pleas not to.

The only thing he could do without earning Vanya's ire was to stay by her side during her pregnancies and eventual recoveries.

"Vanya!" he shouted now, desperation in his voice and an unpleasant taste burning in the back of his throat, "Vanya, please."

Her lips trembled and her eyelids fluttered. For half a heartbeat he thought he might've woken her, but she only settled back in sleep.

"You cannot die, do you hear me? I won't allow it," he pleaded.

Vanya shuddered lightly. This time, her eyes opened and she smiled. Her lips moved and, he could not be sure, but she seemed to be whispering his name. Then her voice became louder, "Five, you're here."

Rough fingers clench around her soft small hand. "Of course I am. There is nowhere else I'd rather be."

A wrinkle formed between her brows. "I dreamed I woke up alone."

"As long as there is air in my lungs you will never be alone, Vanya," he promised, brushing his lips across her knuckles.

"Always my knight in shining armor," she said with a faint smile.

Five brushed away a lock of damp hair that stuck to her cheek.

A terrible shudder ran through her body and her hand weakly clung to his. "Five, I'm tired," she rasped, "But I don't want to go."

The words cut right through his heart.

"Then don't," he said, "Don't leave me. Do not go where I cannot follow. Stay with me, Vanya."

"Five, I'm afraid."

"There is nothing to fear if you just stay here with _me_ ," he assured her. He kissed her palm and the inside of her wrist, savoring the feel of her pulse.

"I only ever wanted to be a good mother."

"You will be. I promise you shall feel better tomorrow," he swore fiercely, gripping her hands tightly.

This time her smile was warm and full of grief, "You are kind, brother. I love you dearly."

His heart constricted painfully. He leaned in and brushed his lips to hers, "And I love you, Vanya."

"I never meant to be a burden," she mumbled, tilting her head a little closer to his.

"No. You could never be a burden."

"Oh, Five," she whispered, voice so faint it was barely audible.

Her hand slipped from his and terror seized his heart.

"Vanya!" he yelled, taking her face in his hands. "Vanya!" Her breathing was frighteningly shallow.

A sort of madness descended upon him. Five ripped his hands away from her and hit the first thing he could find. A chair crashed to the ground followed by a table.

His howl of horrible, blinding fury provoked the doctor to come scrambling back into the room. He took one look at Vanya and returned to tending to her.

For hours, Vanya oscillated between life and death, until just as dawn was breaking across the sky the doctor told Five that she would recover, albeit very slowly. A knot loosened in his chest.

Ignoring the doctor's curious eyes, Five made his way back to Vanya and settled in beside her on the bed. Gently cradling her in his arms, he touched her face with trembling fingers.

The doctor cleared his throat, "Shall I inform her husband?"

Five's eyes never left his sister's face as he replied, "You need not bother. You are dismissed."

He kissed her forehead and thanked a God he didn't believe in for every breath she took.

-

Eight months passed since Vanya's last pregnancy and Five could tell she was growing anxious. He was staying with her while her husband was on a hunting trip. They both knew when he returned that he would force Vanya back into his bed.

Her face held a curious expression as they sat together in her bedroom playing cards. Five could tell her mind was preoccupied with something other than the game at hand.

"I think I found a solution to my predicament," she said suddenly.

He raised his eyebrows, "Oh? Pray tell, what is it, sweet sister?"

A small smile broke out across her lips, "You." Five stiffened, but before he could respond Vanya was already continuing, "Make a child with me. Make love to me."

He grasped her hands in his, sighing heavily, "Vanya."

"Five, please," she whispered, moving forward to crawl into his lap like she used to when they were children.

He stared down at her, struck by the feverish hope and trust in her gaze. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and marveled at the shiver it caused her.

It was no secret that Five had loved Vanya almost their entire lives and not in the way family was supposed to. He had told her that many times, including the day of her wedding. They had shared a handful of kisses and caresses over the years but had not yet breached that last threshold.

Not for a lack of want.

She pressed a soft kiss to his jaw and he returned the gesture with his own kiss upon her temple.

"My husband may own me but he does not own my heart," she told him.

Five rested his forehead against hers, shutting his eyes briefly, just breathing her in. His Vanya. His sister. The other half of his soul. He had never been able to deny her anything. Why start now?

When he opened his eyes, he asked her seriously, "Is this what you truly want?"

One of her breathtaking smiles took hold of her face as she whispered, "Yes."

That was all it took for Five to lean down and capture her lips. She gasped into the kiss, opening herself up to him so beautifully.

He made love to her gently, tenderly, with all the care he'd always carried for her in his heart. She clung to him the entire time, whimpering and moaning his name.

"I love you. I love you," she cried during her release.

Afterward he held her against him possessively and protectively. Now that he had had her he would never give her up. Peabody be damned.

"This child will live. This child will be _ours_ ," Vanya vowed.

Five responded with a kiss to her shoulder, willing her to be right.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading 💕


End file.
